Ahmad 'assault' police not guilty

2011-06-03 15:29:42

3 June 2011 Last updated at 16:25 Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print Babar Ahmad police officers not guilty of assault

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CCTV showed Babar Ahmad's arrest

He alleged that one officer grabbed his throat and cut off his breathing.

Mr Ahmad told the court: "He kept squeezing to the point where I thought, 'This guy is going to kill me. He wants to kill me. I am going to die in the back of this van'."

But the officers said his injuries were either self-inflicted or caused by a legal tackle that took him to the ground when he was first detained.

Pc James-Bowen told the court he had a "ferocious" struggle with martial arts expert Mr Ahmad in which he used "significant force", but rejected accusations that he and his colleagues beat him up.

Resistance feared

The four officers involved in the raid had been told by senior officers to arrest Mr Ahmad.

The four-week trial heard that the suspect's arrest came 11 months after DC Stephen Oake was murdered in Crumpsall, Manchester, by terror suspect Kamel Bourgass.

Police chiefs briefed the arresting officers that Mr Ahmad was to be considered as dangerous as Bourgass and said they feared he would resist, the jury heard.

Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

The issues that have arisen out of the arrest have now been ongoing for a long time”

End Quote Acting Commander Carl Bussey Metropolitan Police

Pc Jones told the court he and the other officers in his unit were told by their sergeant before the operation that the suspect had been trained by al-Qaeda in armed and unarmed combat.

Mr Ahmad was believed to be the leader of an al-Qaeda-linked cell that acted as a conduit to terrorism overseas, providing recruits and logistical support.

In evidence during the trial, Mr Ahmad confirmed that he travelled to Bosnia three or four times to fight during the 1992/95 war, but insisted he was not an "al-Qaeda superman".

Misconduct review

The Metropolitan Police Authority is set to publish an investigation into the incident.

In a statement, the Met Police said the court had heard evidence that did not support Mr Ahmad's account of events following his arrest.

Acting Commander Carl Bussey, head of the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards, said: "The issues that have arisen out of the arrest have now been ongoing for a long time and undoubtedly this will have been a difficult seven years for all involved.

"Given the result I will now ensure a misconduct review is conducted immediately so that the officers can be given a decision as soon as possible and this matter finally brought to a conclusion."

The Metropolitan Police later said three of the officers would remain on restricted duties pending a decision on whether they should face a misconduct hearing.

The fourth officer, Pc Mark Jones, is currently suspended on an unrelated matter.

Mr Ahmad's lawyer, Fiona Murphy, said: "The criminal proceedings have taken their course and the jury has returned its verdict".

"We now call upon the IPCC to put its abject failures in relation to this case to one side and to give proper consideration to the misconduct aspects."

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